Virus outbreak hits school
It can happen anywhere. Suddenly your school is a source of infection, colleagues are sick and the doors have to close. What does that do to a team? “I was the first to test positive. Anyone could have pointed to me, but they didn't."
Picture: Nanne Meulendijks
GGD employees in white suits working on the playground. No children playing, but a furnished test location. It hit team leader Carolien Pellemans hard when she arrived at her favorite primary school in Panningen. “It was so confronting. You want to be involved in good education.”
That was not possible when there was a major corona outbreak at her school last March. “Oh dear, I thought, it's about to start when a colleague's first sick report came in via the director. As a school, we are just a time bomb.” More and more check marks appeared on the whiteboard: brothers, sisters, teachers. Corona spread through the school like a stain. "The combination class 5/6 was quarantined at home, and they are together again in a learning square with group 4. It was no longer possible to organize, the majority were infected, both teachers and students."
Oh dear, I thought. It will start
express train ride
The decision to close the school for a week was taken with the team, says the team leader. “We shared all considerations. Opinions were divided, which also had to do with our student population, part of which is vulnerable. Nevertheless, the majority wanted to close and the feeling prevailed: this is a dilemma, but make a choice quickly.”
It was “exhausting for everyone”, says Pellemans. However, surviving the crisis has brought Favoriet primary school something. Due to a merger at the beginning of this school year, there were two teams. There was also a new school name. “Suddenly there was urgency,” says Pellemans. “We had to work together as one team and radiate trust. We succeeded, the team building went very quickly.”
As a school we are just a time bomb
Colleagues worked out lessons for each other, because there were many sick among the staff. Another focused on the education of gifted students who could not attend school for their specific activities. “I actually didn't have to divide anything,” says Pellemans. The atmosphere among colleagues grew at an enormous rate. “We are located at two locations and work with learning plazas, but everyone found each other.”
Major outbreaks that forced schools to close completely or partially have occurred dozens of times during the corona crisis. It is impossible to say exactly how often, sometimes only one class was sent home, but several examples appeared in the regional media. Since the reopening of the schools, RIVM has observed a 'clear increase' in clusters of infections 'related to the school setting'. It often concerns classes where 'both teachers and students are infected', the institute reports on its website.
Surreal
In Voorburg, group 5 teacher Miriam Tannenbaum can talk about it. She was the first to test positive in March. “I was in the group where it started. It was surreal, really like an unreal movie. Especially if it says in black and white that you have corona. I was shocked, because you don't know what to expect and you have no influence on it anymore."
Tannenbaum works at the Vijverhof, a small school with a close-knit team. Most of her own 32 students were infected, several colleagues also had corona. “Colleagues could have all pointed to me, but luckily no one ever commented on it. Every day we asked how things were going and I sat down and wondered: how is this possible and where did I get it? Did I clean everything properly in the classroom? You will never find out.”
It was a wake up call. Especially because younger colleagues in her team have been hit hard by corona. “I myself was better within a week and a half, but I have colleagues in their twenties who have been out of action for three-quarters of a year. There were therefore no differences of opinion between the young or the elderly within the team.”
I have colleagues in their twenties who have been out for three quarters of a year
Survival Mode
The outbreak was a test for the team, Tannenbaum says. “You expect that you will get through it together in difficult moments. That has also been shown. A school closure has consequences for everyone and it does ask of you to go along with someone else more. I'm proud of how we've done. Sometimes it seems easy, but as a team you are always deliberating. That goes on every day. We are in survival mode in that regard.” Now group 8 will soon be going to camp. “That was another decision: do we do that or not? Then colleagues dare to say so if they prefer not to come along. It's great that this is possible within the team."
At her school there is a great need to see each other normally again and, for example, to have lunch together in the coffee room. “The outbreak has not made us any closer. It's just hard when you see each other less. But it didn't drive us apart either."
Outbreak train
At Pentecost, school director Martin Boersma of primary school De Sprankeling from Damwâld (Damwoude) was on the 'breakout train'. It Education magazine calls him at the beginning of June, on the day of the reopening, and Boersma is still puffing when he talks about the crisis. “The phase before you decide to close the school is the most difficult. So much information comes in, colleagues hear that parents keep their children at home. There is unrest.”
Boersma himself did have a restless night's sleep during the outbreak. It started with all the students, 85 in total, from group 5/6 who were seen as close contact. “They all had to be quarantined, because we received a message that a student from group 6 had tested positive. We always looked at what was possible with the GGD. After that, group 4 also had to quarantine and it turned out to have had gym outside with another group. In the end, 6 of the 13 groups had to be quarantined. “I was concerned that a colleague, who is pregnant, had to join the group. So I called them in the evening to say that I was walking around with it and that it didn't feel right for me. You worry about your colleagues.” In the end, she dared to face the class.
Boersma walked past the entire team to ask 'how they were doing'. “Just take a look. No one was surprised by the measure to close the school.” At his school, three colleagues turned out to be infected, one of whom is still disabled. “Everyone sympathizes at such a moment.”
Check-out
Since the previous lockdowns, they had already set up a 'check-out' at Boersma's school, an online meeting with the main agenda item: 'How are you doing'. “That check-out is online at 14.15 pm. An idea from our internal supervisor. It helps us to keep in touch with what is alive. It is a nice moment and there is room for personal experiences.”
We have to look out for each other. Especially now, because we're pretty tired
Looking at each other more consciously is also important to team leader Pellemans. “In the morning I take a much more conscious tour of my colleagues. Just ask how it goes, just a check. We have to watch out for each other. Especially now, because we are quite tired, it was an intensive period. In such an outbreak, your school is the center of attention, it sometimes feels like you have not acted carefully. While the GGD said: don't feel guilty. Nobody can do anything about this. It feels terrible and then we had just merged. You want to build good education and the name of the school. We did notice: as fast as it pops up, it's gone again as quickly. With new registrations, the storm is running.”
This article was published in the Education Magazine. All members receive this magazine in their mailbox every month. Join? Sign In!
